Still alive! I'll have quite a bit more time to spend on this project over the summer so expect more updates starting in May. As for this update, I tried to cover the major criticisms of the ship editor - minimizing the UI, better camera controls, better display and a few bug fixes.
The Player Controls have been completely revamped - and some subsystems have been removed. As such, there are now only 5 basic subsystems:
- Hull : Protects the other subsystems from damage (although not entirely, when weakened, damage will still get through). The hull's health is based on the volume of your ship.
- Life Support : Heals your crew. If it is deactivated, your crew slowly suffocates and a ship with no crew can be captured to join your fleet! Your crew automatically repairs your subsystems (although you can deactivate the repair of a subsystem by right-clicking it).
- Warp Core : Allows your ship to function - destroying it destroys the entire ship.
- Targeting Computer : Allows your ship to use auto-targeting turrets (to defend against missiles) and enhances aiming/range of all turrets.
- Engine Core : Allows your ship to move.
The idea is that this is enough to manage in one game - you can add up to 5 additional subsystems that will have various abilities. It also means you can specifically target parts of a ship to allow for an easy capture.
I'm also working on using the Unity 5 assets better (read: fancier graphics), and overall world generation. I've added shipyards that allow you to edit your ship, pirate encounters and hostile fleet encounters - the most basic types, really. Up next is a major revamp of asteroid fields, shops and recruitment hubs to hire crew members.
